Federal Govt Initiates MSME-focused Interventions For 1.3m Beneficiaries

In a bid to complement the federal government’s efforts to improve the economy and create more jobs, a group of partners in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) space are set to execute various MSME-focused interventions, targeting 1.3 million beneficiaries across 17 states and FCT.

The MSME and Job Creation Unit of the Vice President’s Office which is coordinating the interventions has disclosed that the interventions are geared towards ensuring the realisation of the Tinubu administration’s commitment to job creation and economic diversification with the MSMEs playing critical roles.

According to a statement by the media office of the Vice President, the interventions which are to be completed in 17 States and FCT are Shared Centres for MSMEs providing four markets with 300kva Solar Panels and mini grids to provide eight hours of electricity a day to six Fashion Hubs and two Furniture Clusters.

Other interventions are for car painting/ drying hubs and cold rooms for sea food storage among others.

Following Vice President Kashim Shettima’s directives on the speedy execution of the projects, five of the interventions will be completed and delivered by December 2023.

The statement added that 12 other interventions are scheduled for completion before December 2024.

The states to benefit from the interventions include Abia, Rivers,  Jigawa,  Benue,  Borno, Lagos, Ekiti, Niger, Sokoto, Enugu, Gombe, Akwa Ibom, Yobe, Ondo, Osun, Bayelsa, Imo and FCT.

MSME partners collaborating with the Office of the Vice President to execute these interventions include Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control, (NAFDAC), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Bank of Industry (BOI), Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Bank of Agriculture (BOA), Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Nigerian Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), among others.